Published 7:00 pm, Monday, May 17, 2010

Work crews may be pumping water out of the "duck pond" through the remainder of the week in an effort to relieve the soggy sidewalks, grass and far south lane of "A" Street.

Still, city officials say it could be worse.

The natural overflow point for the pond — which is technically a playa lake, or a natural depression in the ground where water gathers temporarily — falls in front of Bowie Fine Arts Academy, said City Engineer Rene Franks. If none of the rainfall Midland received were pumped or drained through other various methods that have been put in place in previous decades, she said, water could fill the area up to the front of the school or to the intersection at B Street and Douglas Avenue. (READER PHOTOS: The Storm & The Aftermath)

"Most of what could be done had been done long ago," Franks said, of possible remedies to the area's pond flooding.

The neighborhood that includes Wadley Barron Park was the location of the Midland Country Club and a nine-hole golf course from the mid-1920s to the 1950s, according to Reporter-Telegram records. By 1955, the Tall City had started to grow and the country club and golf course were relocated to a site off of Highway 349. The Elks Lodge then purchased part of the property and deeded a portion to the city.

When the golf course and country club were moved, plans to develop a neighborhood were made in the 1950s. However, Franks said, many of the homes were constructed in the bowl of the playa, or the area inside the boundary where the playa's natural overflow point occurs.

"Now we would never allow houses to be built below the playa rim," Franks said.

At the time, she said, as much as 5 feet of filler was brought in on some streets to make the properties higher, but even that wasn't enough to curb all flooding.

The park itself, which includes the pond, wasn't constructed officially until the 1980s, when the City Council granted money to create a lake they said then might become a spot for canoes and fisherman, according to Reporter-Telegram records.

Before that, the pond was less of a regular spot for water and more of a "mud hole" whenever rainfall came.

Franks said the area of Midland that drains to the duck pond runs past Garfield Street, which is part of why so much water gathers there. Garfield Street was fashioned to have a low dip in the center to prevent all its water from rushing toward Wadley Barron Park, she said, and D Street also was cut as low as possible so water could flow to Douglas Avenue and then out to "A" Street.

In 1994, Franks said, the City Council asked her to investigate what would be required to add larger pumps to the pond to help prevent flooding. However, she said, she learned at the time such pumps would cost about $500,000 and alleviate less than a foot of the flooding that occurred during heavy rains.

"What we recommended to the council was that you could spend a lot of money and it was not going to make a whole lot of difference," Franks said.

The pumps that are in the park, said Parks Superintendent Max Reyes, should help alleviate at least some water during heavy rain. But they shorted out during Friday's storm, which added to flooding.

"We're always counting on those pumps to kick in," Reyes said.

Some neighbors near the pond say they were aware of the risk of water in their yards and even the first floor of their homes when they moved in. But even with the forewarning, they said, the pools of water still are a nuisance.

"That whole area is such a horrific mess when it rains," said Laura Nodolf, who lives just more than a block from the park. "I worry more about D Street. D floods so bad that it's often times impassable."

Homes that sit in a playa bowl and are purchased through any type of federally backed loans must have some type of flood insurance.

Debra Cooper, who was at her son's home on Cuthbert Avenue between "A" and B streets during the storm, said water rose up to the step on the front porch and into the garage. She said the pool hadn't receded to the point she could drive home until late Sunday.

Franks added the city also sends notices each year to homes in that neighborhood reminding them they're in a flood-prone area and providing tips to keep belongings safe.

She said any homeowners who would like additional tips on better equipping their homes can contact their office at 685-7286.